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Dispute Resolution

At CMS, we have thought more about Your World. You do not want to litigate, and neither do we. You want to avoid disputes and when they do arise, have the right team to resolve them.

Unlike most major law firms, you will not find a traditional litigation department at CMS. What you will find is a large team of specialist lawyers who share a refreshing approach to disputes. Structured according to the industries our clients work in, we bring our deep sector expertise to your dispute ensuring you will always receive advice in the context of your own market.

Where your dispute cannot be resolved in any other way, we have the expertise and resources to ensure your dispute is pursued through litigation and arbitration, including, where necessary, appeals and challenges to the highest courts and tribunals.

Consistently ranked in the Global Arbitration Review ‘GAR30’ of the world’s busiest international arbitration practices and as one of The Lawyer’s Top 50 Global Litigation firms, you will have a team experienced in all forms of dispute resolution.

We advise clients on international arbitration (both commercial and investor-state), litigation (either of the underlying dispute or in support of arbitral proceedings), expert determination, adjudication and mediation.

They are outstanding on client care, very thorough and commercially astute.

Chambers 2016

They are outstanding on client care, very thorough and commercially astute.

Chambers 2016

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Judicial Review

When a public body or official has made a decision that impacts on an industry, sector or project, sometimes the last available resort is to challenge the decision on legal or procedural grounds by way of judicial review. A party involved in a challenge needs the support of a team who understands their industry and the challenge process.

Financial Regulatory Disputes

As a financial services business, the daily challenges you face in doing business in a highly regulated, cost pressured environment mean you need advisers who have an unparalleled understanding of the regulators’ expectations, how they apply to your business and are commercial, practical and resourceful.

Risk & Investigations

Fraud, corruption, tax evasion and money laundering are issues high on the public, political and enforcement agendas around the world. Regulatory and trade bodies’ more stringent restrictions and transparency requirements, as well as improvements in corporate internal controls, have also led to better internal reporting of concerns, generating a new series of challenges in terms of appropriate analysis and investigation of reported issues.

Reputation & Defamation

Reputation is one of the most valuable assets a person or organisation can have. When this is under threat, it is important to defend it quickly and fervently. The Defamation Act 2013 is designed to create a balance between freedom of expression and the right to a good reputation. This has introduced a whole range of new complexities.

Real Estate & Planning Disputes

Whether you are a developer, landlord, contractor or occupier, when a real estate project or transaction becomes contentious, you need legal advice from a disputes team that understands the issues peculiar to the sector.

International Arbitration

Arbitration is a good choice to resolve disputes when you need flexibility, enforceability and an award which reflects the realities and complexities of your business. To achieve this, particularly in industries like insurance, energy, construction, engineering and TMT, you will need arbitrators and advisers who are comfortable with the technical detail.

Insurance & Reinsurance Disputes

Finance Disputes

Disputes involving financial institutions can be complex and involve vast sums. This is where our experience gained through long-standing relationships with major banks and financial institutions can deliver efficient and effective solutions for your business.

Advocacy

As someone looking for advocacy advice, it is essential you get seamless legal representation, efficiency, accessibility and speed. CMS has extensive advocacy experience in courts and tribunals across the United Kingdom on a broad range of matters. These include commercial contracts, construction and engineering, oil and gas, employment, fatal accident inquiries, judicial review, personal injury and property damage, planning and consenting, and public procurement.

Energy Disputes

International energy companies operate in a complex and challenging environment. Investments in the energy sector are often high-value, high-risk transactions involving projects that rely on cutting edge technology. In addition to the technical challenges in this heavily regulated industry, the progressive development of reserves and infrastructure around the globe, and the need for ongoing geographic diversification, have exposed energy companies to increased legal and political risk. In such an environment, despite best business practices, disputes may be unavoidable.

Employment Disputes

When you’re facing an employment dispute, you need a legal adviser who will give you clear advice on the best route to a solution. This will include a commercial assessment of prospects, likely costs and timeframes.

Corporate Crime

If your business faces allegations of illegality or other wrongdoing, whether from whistle-blowers, regulators or other authorities, you will need to act quickly to investigate and protect your corporate reputation. You will need to know how to respond to the issue in the minutes and hours after it has arisen, both internally and externally, in order to protect the business and avoid exacerbating the problem. You will also need to know how to investigate the issues, while protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the process and maximising the protection of legal privilege where available.

Construction & Engineering Disputes

At CMS, we strive to spend more time looking outward at your world than inward at ours. As a leading and trusted adviser to the construction and engineering sectors, we aim to give you an advantage today by anticipating your challenges of tomorrow.

Commercial Disputes

In today's global marketplace, despite best business practices, litigation and disputes are often unavoidable. As a large publicly listed company or a small privately owned business, you will need lawyers who will deliver the outcome that meets your objectives and work within the commercial realities you operate in day to day.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Avoiding costly disputes is often the favoured route for businesses when challenges arise. Alternative dispute resolution – which includes mediation, moderation, and expert determination - is an increasingly attractive option for clients wishing to avoid lengthy and costly proceedings.

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Un­der­tak­ings as part of world­wide freez­ing or­ders will be con­strued...

In Ak­cine Bendrove Bankas Snor­as v Ant­onov, the Com­mer­cial Court had to con­sider the in­ter­pret­a­tion of a stand­ard un­der­tak­ing giv­en in sup­port of a world­wide freez­ing or­der (the WFO) ob­tained by a Lithuani­an Bank against two former dir­ect­ors, not to.

“The Lease will not be dis­charged by frus­tra­tion on the United King­dom’s trans­ition from Mem­ber State of the European Uni­on to third coun­try nor does the EMA’s shift of headquar­ters from Lon­don to Am­s­ter­dam con­sti­tute a frus­trat­ing event.

An in­ter­im in­junc­tion was sought from the claimant to lift his sus­pen­sion of em­ploy­ment at the de­fend­ant uni­ver­sity. The claimant was the head of sci­ence and tech­no­logy at the uni­ver­sity but was sus­pen­ded and barred from ac­cess to his work.

When do dir­ect­ors’ du­ties at law switch to be­ing owed to the com­pany’s...

A real, as op­posed to re­mote, risk of in­solv­ency is not ne­ces­sar­ily enough for the du­ties of a board of dir­ect­ors to switch from be­ing owed to its share­hold­ers to be­ing owed to its cred­it­ors. So ruled the Court of Ap­peal (“CA”) in its judg­ment in BTI 2014 LLC.

Court re­fuses to con­tin­ue an in­ter­im in­junc­tion re­strain­ing the sale...

In Le­der­er & An­or v All­sop LLP (13/03/2018) the court re­fused to con­tin­ue an in­junc­tion pre­vent­ing the sale of a prop­erty on the grounds that it was in nobody's in­terests to delay a sale. The prop­erty was owned by the.